Genelit Playfulness: conference on art, literature and generative AI
The second Genelit conference explores playfulness in art and literature in the context of generative artificial intelligence. Join us at Didaktikon in Prague on 29 and 30 September 2026 for talks, discussions and the opening of the interactive exhibition Cesta básní.
- Dates: 29–30 September 2026
- Programme: 29 September, 5–8 pm; 30 September, 3–7:30 pm
- Venue: Kampus Hybernská – Didaktikon, Hybernská 4, Prague 1
About the conference
The second Genelit conference focuses on playfulness. The event is a collaboration between Ústav pro českou literaturu AV ČR and VŠVU / AFAD. The doctoral section is organised by Jana Horáková from Theory of Interactive Media at Masaryk University.
How would Ludwig Wittgenstein view today’s large language models and their impact on our culture? We will, of course, never know. Nevertheless, we can be almost certain that he would regard our interactions with them as one of the many language games (Sprachspiele) we play within forms of life (Lebensformen) shaped by the current state of civilisation.
We do not need to be experts in Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language to recognise the pervasive principle of play that accompanies us at almost every step in the world of generative artificial intelligence – or, as we have called it, “neural network culture”. The very act of prompting – communicating with an imaginary partner that seeks to appear as a human conversation partner – already has a playful character.
The consequences of the rapid development and expansion of AI’s current capabilities evoke a form of play in that they allow individuals to assume roles that would previously have required specialised expertise or talent, such as poet, musician, visual artist or programmer. Creativity in this context emerges from the interplay between human abilities and machine performance.
What, then, are the rules of these games and pastimes? Is it better for art to follow these rules, or to take a subversive stance towards them – undermining and questioning them? And might these playful forms be precisely what contemporary art could use to reflect effectively on the processes and transformations that artificial intelligence brings to culture and artistic practice?
Programme and speakers
29 September: David Jhave Johnston from Canada and the Center for Digital Narrative in Norway, Stephanie Catani from Germany, Vadim Keylin from Germany, Ondřej Vojtíšek and Rudolf Rosa.
30 September: talks by Barbora Trnková, Ondřej Trhoň, Man Lai Tin, Igor Rjabinin from VŠVU / AFAD, Tomáš Marušiak and Michael Franěk.
Related exhibition opening: Cesta básní
The conference’s interactive programme includes the opening of Cesta básní by Matěj Novotný from Digital Arts at VŠVU / AFAD, taking place on 29 September at 7 pm at Didaktikon.
In this interactive digital installation, your steps become words on a journey through poetry. Human authors and neural networks are your guides, and the goal is the joy of playful poetic creation. The work was developed as part of a TAČR grant using the EduPo generative large language model. The grant brings together the Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics at Charles University, Ústav pro českou literaturu AV ČR, Didaktikon and VŠVU / AFAD in Bratislava.
For the programme, abstracts and further information, visit the Genelit conference website.